A Collaborative Effort Brings A Diamond Back To Life

GCSD photo

Groveland, CA – With shovels in hand and using a tractor to smooth out the sandy infield, volunteers gave a local ballpark a facelift.

The goal was to give the Tioga High School softball team a place to practice and play ball this season and that is where the idea to clean up Leon Rose Ball Field came about. It is located along Ferretti Road in Groveland and owned by the Groveland Community Services District (GCSD).

Tioga High School Principal, Ryan Dutton, and his wife, Dawnelle Dutton organized the park revitalization and managed to gather plenty of residents and some GCSD staff to pitch in on the cleanup. All rolled up their sleeves a got to work scraping the infield, clearing out overgrown berries, weed whacking, handpicking rocks from the ground, and clean the parking lot. When that was all done, they then hauled away all the debris.

With the job complete, it even enticed enough students to join the team, filling the roster for the season. Organizers share they are looking for ways to keep the field in playing condition after this year’s season and make it available to the community but say so far nothing has been finalized.